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PARTISAN REVIEW
the face, for fear o f her lifeless scorn. Instead he h eard a strange
murmur mixed w ith the sound o f wa ter; and turning toward the river,
he saw a boy in a boa t, rowing up with horribl e grimaces. H e had a bi g
bloa ted head a nd tiny hands and seemed to move onl y hi s mouth ,
which was like a piece o f raw fl es h , hideously twi sted into its stra n ge
sound . Horace gra bbed the do ll a nd ra n for the house.
La ter, on hi s way home, he tho ught o f moving to some o ther
country and never lookin g a t an o ther doll. When he arrived, he went
stra ight up to the bedroom to th row o ut Eul a li e; but he fo und Mary
sprawl ed face down on the bed, crying. H e went up and stroked her
ha ir, but realized the do ll was on the bed with them a nd ca ll ed in one o f
the twin s, with orders to remove her and have Fra nk come a nd ta ke her
away. H e stretched out next to Mary a nd they bo th lay there in sil ence
wa iting for ni ght to fa ll. And then , taking her ha nd a nd sea rchin g
pa infull y fo r wo rds, as if struggling with a fo reign language, he told
h er o f his di sappo intment in the dolls a nd the emptin ess h e'd felt in
hi s life without her.
IX
Mary thought Ho race's di sappo intment in the do lls wa s fin a l, a nd
for a while they bo th acted as if ha ppi er times were back. The fi rs t few
days, neither o f them menti on ed Da isy; but then they began to fa ll into
unexpected sil ences, and each o f them knew whom the o ther was
thinking a bout. One morning, stro lling in the ga rden , Ma ry stopped in
front o f the tree where she'd put Daisy to surprise Ho race. There,
remembering the story the neighbors had made up a nd the fact tha t
she'd actua ll y kill ed Daisy, she burst into tea rs. When H o race came out
to as k her wha t was wrong, she met him with an a n gry g la re. H e
rea lized sh e' d los t much of h er appea l, standing there alone with fo lded
arms, with o ut Daisy . Then , one evening, he was sitting in the littl e
parl o r, blaming himself for Da isy's a bsence, brooding over his guilt,
when suddenl y he no ti ced a blac k ca t in the room . He go t up, a nnoyed ,
intending to scold Alex for lettin g it in , when Ma ry a ppeared say in g
she had brought it. She was in such a ga y mood, huggin g him, as she
to ld him a bout it, tha t he didn 't wa nt to upse t her; but he ha ted it fo r
the stea lthy way it had crept up on him in his guilt. And soon it, too,
came between them , as she got into the habit o f ta king it up to bed with
her, ma kin g it li e on the covers. He wa ited fo r her to fa ll as leep, then
sta rted a n earthqua ke under the covers till he go t rid o f it. One ni ght
she woke up in the middl e o f the ea rthqua ke:
